It makes sense, though, as the opening lines of any body of work are incredibly important. The starting sentences are what draw the reader in and want to continue to read your story. As King says in The Atlantic article, “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.”

So how does a writer achieve this enticing invitation? Is there some magical formula that guarantees a solid opening? Unfortunately, probably not, at least not one that has been discovered yet anyway. However, there are definitely some methods to helping construct the first lines successfully.

Writer’s Digest lays out “7 Ways To Create a Killer Opening Line For Your Novel,” and as a starting writer myself, I have to say that I found the list to be incredibly helpful. For example, one piece of advice I thought was incredibly helpful was starting with a “statement of simple fact.” Writing doesn’t have to be super complicated or intense to draw a reader in; sometimes, sheer simplicity will do the trick.

Definitely check out the links listed above to get some more advice about opening lines if you find yourself stuck, and remember not to get too frustrated with yourself if you are struggling. Writing can be an excruciating endeavor, and it has nothing to do with your ability to write.

“So what PW things have you been dabbling in during your time at MSU?”

“I’ve done a lot. Actually, I wish I would have brought my resume with me so I don’t forget something.”

Like many of our fabulous P-dubs here at MSU, English and Professional Writing junior Katlyn Lindstrom is making the most of her time here at MSU both in and outside of the classroom.

“MSU for me has to do with giving students a wide variety of opportunities and a place where they can call home,” said Lindstrom.

Such opportunities for Lindstrom currently include being the student liaison for the MSU College of Arts and Letters’ Peer Mentor and Student Ambassador programs, a member of the English recruitment taskforce, multimedia chair for Circle K, guest writer for ing Magazine, website redesign for MSU Young Authors’ Conference, editorial team member for the Red Cedar Review, and Communication Strategist for the MSU College Assistant Migrant Program (CAMP) through her WRA 202 class.

Because of Lindstrom’s extensive knowledge of the admission process and her passion for MSU and getting students excited about the opportunities available to them, she was hired to work with Quinn Moreno and Sarah Whitaker to research, design, and implement the College of Arts and Letter’s peer-mentor program and strengthening the student ambassador program.

Lindstrom explained, “I designed the application, Idesigned the Peer Mentor contract and I have been helping with the recruitment process. I authored the content on the website for the College of Arts and Letters under ‘Advising’. Anytime you see any information about the program, I most likely wrote it…I will also be supervising the program next year and helping strengthen
the Student Ambassador program by taking what is already there and figuring out how to make it better to have student engaging with prospective students more…I will eventually be designing the handbook so I have been researching MSU brand standards…It is giving me really strong experience with finding where to go to find information and make that information accessible to people like how to tailor to a certain audience and how to collaborate with other people…It’s fun to be on the ground floor of something like that and its fun to be creating something to help make first year experiences better for College of Arts and Letters students.”

The two most professionally impacting experiences Lindstrom has had so far have involved exploring coding in both her WRA 210 course and while redesigning the Young Authors’ Conference website.

“It really gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities to make my own website and take ownership of myself and start branding myself online,” said Lindstrom about her WRA 210 course with Assistant Professor Casey McArdle, who referred her to the Young Authors’ Conference. “That was a moment of pride that he had enough faith in me to refer me even though I only had a semester’s worth of experience. [The Young Authors’ Conference] was my first experience with paid website design consulting which was really fun. I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to do more.”

Lindstrom’s passion for website and document design is equaled by her love for writing.

“I have always wanted to be a writer,” said Lindstrom. “In February, I wrote a guest article for ing Magazine and I didn’t even think it would get published. I remember when the issue finally came out, I picked up a copy thinking I didn’t make it in but when I opened it up and it was right there on page six I freaked out and called my mom because that was the first time I had ever been published. There is really no experience like seeing your name in print. It was one of the most exciting things. At that moment I was like ‘if there was any doubt that I am a writer, this moment would remind me that yes, yes I am’ because there is no feeling as good than seeing something that I wrote there for other people to read.”

Despite everything she already has on her plate, Lindstrom still made time to study away in LA this Spring Break. During which time she was shown the ins and outs of the entertainment industry through numerous networking events (including one at DreamWorks), studio visits (including trips to mOcean and MPC), and independent explorations of the city (including a “magical trip” to Disney and Universal Studios).

Read more of Lindstrom’s inspiring story and witness her endless passion and dedication to Professional Writing and English first hand by following her blog.

Writing can be an excruciating task. It invites us to feel incredibly vulnerable. It opens us up to rejection and criticism, and in turn can incite quite a bit of self-doubt.

Almost all writers experience self-doubt at one point in their writing career. This article from Brain Pickings showcases Virginia Woolf’s own struggles with it in her own writing, and how she turned this commonplace experience among writers into the 1928 novel Orlando: A Biography.

It’s definitely an interesting read, and shows that even the most talented writers dealt with feelings of inadequacy. Be sure to check it out!

In December 2013, Esquire published an article by Luke O’Neil in which he bashed viral-content producing sites such as BuzzFeed and Gawker, lamenting that these websites, which are dependent on the shareability of its content, were making “veracity, newsworthiness, and relevance” a notion of the past.

O’Neil referenced an Atlanticarticle which showed that the most shared website on Facebook by leaps and bounds was Gawker, beating out the likes of The New York Times,CNN, FoxNews, and BBC. To him, this was meant to be evidence of the decline of journalism, the end of solid, meaningful writing. That all we care about are “15 Puppies That Will Make Your Day Better” and not tragedies abroad, or even in our backyard. Forget elections, give me cats in sweaters!

But the thing is, these “puff” articles O’Neil is referring to on sites like BuzzFeed, Thought Catalog, Gawker, and the like aren’t intended to be journalistic writing at all, not really. They’re not meant to steer us away from Benghazi. They’re meant for a break.

As someone who had contributed to one of these sites before, I have to say the backlash against these sites is rather frustrating. Just because I’m not writing about politics or other heavy news topics I don’t think makes me any less of a writer. I just have a different mission with my words: to make people feel less alone, to hopefully inspire, or to make someone laugh. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

Whether you agree with O’Neil or not, you have to remember that just because something is of lighter substance, doesn’t make it any less meaningful. We all need a break from all of the terrible things happening in the world, and that’s why I think these viral sites are pretty awesome.